Month: October 2018

75. God will Repay

 Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

 The Lord promises that He will repay because vengeance belongs to Him. This is a significant promise because it means that we do not have to hold a grudge, take vengeance, look for ways to pay back, or try to get even. Vengeance does not belong to me and it is not my responsibility to see that justice is done, even when I am the one who was wronged or injured. This is freedom, for by believing this promise, that God will repay, I can just let it go. I can let it go to God and I do not have to hold on to the hurt or offense. Justice is God’s responsibility. Let Him take care of it.

“Getting even” or even seeking justice is a burden I do not need to carry. God has delegated the administration of justice to the proper governmental authorities. It is my responsibility to report the injustice or the crime and to bear witness when called upon. But I am free from the burden of taking justice into my own hands. Certainly, government judicial systems do not always by any means perfectly administer justice, but that is not my problem. However, when government justice fails, I can be sure that God will see that perfect justice will be perfectly done in the end. At the Last Day all things will be put to rights. No matter how long it may be, I can wait in faith in God’s promise. Trust God to repay. Let it be in God’s hands; do not take it into your own hands. “Avenge not yourselves.”

We can leave it up to God if we believe the promise: “I will repay.” He definitely will; I am free. Furthermore, I can forgive because I am forgiven. Forgiveness is my responsibility and the Lord gives me the ability to do so. Forgiving is healthier and more fun and more freeing than avenging. If I know that God has it under His wise and just control, I am free.

74. Mercy on All

 Romans 11:32, 33 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches both of wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

 Mercy is not only amazing, but it is also essential to life. Without mercy no one on earth would have a chance; we would all be dead, and deservedly so. Without mercy nobody would know the true God, nor would anyone be able to receive any good gifts and blessings from God. Without mercy human families would fall apart and end up broken producing many broken lives. Without mercy all social interaction would break down, friends would become enemies, and human relationships would be impossible. Mercy makes life possible, and more than that, it makes life good.

God has mercy on all, no person excepted. God has mercy on all since all have sinned. Without the mercy of God all people are concluded in unbelief for all people have rebelled against God, disobeyed God, and disbelieved in God. Mercy is the only hope for all human beings. If there were no mercy there would only be sin and unbelief, and no human with sin on them and unbelief in them will ever see the loving God; he will only fall into the hands of the living God, a dreadful thing, for our God is a consuming fire. This is not something we want to gamble with.

Mercy is unusual, not normal, out of the ordinary, unexpected, and it is a pleasant surprise. The only defense a sinner has in front of God is to plead for mercy. The Good News is that because God is love, and that love drives Him to send His Son to die for our sins, God can and will have mercy.

Mercy is a mystery: it cannot be understood; it can only be believed, and it must be humbly received with thankfulness. Mercy is a part of the wisdom, knowledge, judgments and ways of God that are deep, unsearchable and past finding out. The oft-quoted words of Isaiah 55:8-9 (“my ways are not your ways…my ways are higher than your ways”) are referring to the compassion and mercy of God. The “ways” of God is Mercy. We will never figure it out: it is awesome, it is incomprehensible, and it is impossible for us. That is why it is promise to be believed.

73. Take Away Sins

 Romans 11:27 For this is my covenant with them, when I shall take away their sins.

 The covenant God made with the people of Israel was completed and fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, for in Christ God has taken away their sins. When God takes away our sins He places us in a covenant relationship with Himself; that covenant is sealed in the blood of Christ and it cannot be broken by anyone or anything. It is solid and sure.

The promise for us in this New Covenant is that He shall take away our sins. Jesus of Nazareth was pointed out as “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” Jesus took the sins off of us, placed them upon Himself, and died the death that our sins deserved: in doing so, Jesus took our sins away. He took the sins away from us in order that we will not suffer the just punishment of our sins since our sins are no longer upon us, that is, they are taken away.

When the blood of Christ takes our sins away then we are innocent, pure, clean and fresh. But that’s not all: we are made more than innocent; we are made righteous. We are not just neutral; we are positively good and holy, doing, deciding and saying all just and good and kind and right things. That is what the Holy Spirit is doing within us as we live our lives by faith.

By faith and promise our sins are gone. By life and in reality our sins remain and continue to infest and infect us. We see our sins and their effects on life and relationships every day, if we are honest. But we live by faith: faith does not see our sins; faith sees that the sins are taken away. This is not easy to believe since it contradicts our experience; therefore, we need this promise. The Truth: sins are taken away.

72. Goodness

 Romans 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shall be cut off.

God promises goodness and threatens severity: severity on those who fall, goodness on those who continue in his goodness. “Continuing in His goodness” means to maintain a solid faith in Jesus Christ, continuing to believe in the grace of God and receiving His mercy on a regular basis. We received goodness from God according to His promise when we believed in Christ. We continue to receive goodness when we continue in that faith.

Goodness includes everything that comes from God, for God is good, He gives good, and we continue to look to God for everything good that we need for the enjoyment of all His gifts and graces to live a good life. And God will not remove goodness from us for any reason, unless we choose to find goodness from another source, like from our own selves, our own reason, our own feelings, or from the world. Looking for goodness from any other source but God alone is unbelief and that is discontinuing in his goodness. This is a fearful threat and warning to which we do well to take heed: otherwise you, too, will be cut off. It would be an awful and terrible thing to come under the severity of God.

Even when we begin to trust things other than God for the goodness we need we can always turn back and look to God again in repentance and faith. The way back is always open. If we are not enjoying goodness it may be time to reflect on where we are placing our love and trust, and then repent and return to God alone through faith in Jesus Christ. God is good, all the time. Goodness is always ours.

71. Faith

 Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

 The promise here is that faith comes by hearing the word of God. The word of God includes listening to the proclamation of Law and Gospel, which encompasses and fills the written Scriptures and the spoken Word. The faith referred to in this context is saving faith, the faith that saves, the faith that justifies. The Holy Spirit works the miracle of faith in Jesus when the Gospel is heard. Faith may or may not be increased and strengthened every time we hear the Gospel but it will be confirmed. It is not the amount or the strength of faith that saves, but it is the person who is the object of faith that saves. A flickering wick will not go, a bruised reed will not break, and mustard seed faith is enough to save. Even a little faith is enough.

Faith is engendered by the Holy Spirit; but it does not come out of the blue, nor out of thin air, nor from within the person; the Holy Spirit works through Word and Sacrament. The Holy Spirit uses the preached Gospel to create faith in the heart of the believer. When that faith is born the believing person is saved. The infant “hears” the Gospel in Holy Baptism; the adult “sees” the Gospel in Holy Communion; but very often the child or adult receives the Gospel when he hears the Word of God, spoken or written in understandable terms of Law and Gospel.

We don’t see faith; and, although it sometimes happens, we don’t usually feel faith. We just believe. The Word of God has that kind of power to bring faith upon the hearing (or the reading) of it. The Holy Spirit works this miracle by the Gospel, because foolish reason cannot figure it out, fickle emotions don’t feel it, and the recalcitrant will cannot choose to receive it; but “it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe” [I Corinthians 1:21].

The promise of faith gives us all the assurance we need: Did you hear the Gospel? Did you believe it? You are saved. We need to hear the Gospel as often as humanly possible to solidify us in the faith (faith comes). Then with God’s help we can face the challenges and problems of each day.

70. Not Ashamed

Romans 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

 The promise that you shall not be ashamed does not sound like a great promise; it seems like faint praise. But the positive and opposite side of “not ashamed” is “you will be proud; you will be vindicated.” You can be proud that you believed in Jesus for He makes all His promises come true; you will be happy you placed all your eggs in the Easter basket; it will be good for you that you trusted in Jesus for life and eternity. You will be vindicated; it will be proved that your trust is well placed; you will be proved to be right.

It is more than what we say to the Atheist: “If you are right and I am wrong then I have nothing to lose, but if I’m right and you’re wrong then you have everything to lose.” There is no “if I’m right.” I know I am right; I will not be ashamed. I will not be ashamed of Jesus or ashamed of believing in Him. I can stand with confidence in the face of any challenge; I can stand strong in the face of any opposing force; I can stand firm in the face of false accusations; I can stand up in the face of a flood of worries and fears.

“Not be ashamed” also means not being disappointed. I will not be disappointed in God; Jesus will not let me down; He definitely will keep His promises; He will do what He says. I can count on it; I can pray on it; I and live on it; and I can die on it. This kind of confidence in God and His Word is a big deal. Many people become disappointed in God when bad things happen or when things don’t all seem to work out the way I wanted. This disappointment leads many away from the faith and even away from salvation. But this promise says that we can be patient and that if we hold on and wait long enough with faith everything will turn out right and good, just and fair, happy and pleasant. Disappointment is a lie and everyone at some time can be disappointed with God and tempted to ignore, forget or deny faith in God. But the Word and Promise says: You will not be disappointed!

69. Righteousness and Salvation

 Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Righteousness and salvation is really the same thing, two sides of the same coin, one positive and one negative. Righteousness is everything good and right. Faith receives the righteousness of God as a gift. This positive side makes us right with God. Salvation is also good and right because we have been saved from everything bad, like sin, death and the devil. Through Christ we are all good and no bad. Without Christ we are all bad and no good. What a remarkable change!

It is the heart and the mouth that receives the gift and makes it true for us personally. The heart believes and the mouth confesses. The inside and the outside of us are united in acknowledging and receiving the gift of righteousness and salvation. Faith and confession are also two sides of the same coin. The faith of the heart leads to an outward confession; the confession of the mouth expresses the inward faith.

Believing and confessing is saying that there is something true that we do not see with the eyes. The eyes say, “There is no evidence.” Faith is the evidence of what the eyes do not see; confession is the expression that says, “It is true; there is evidence. Faith sees it.” It is not right to say that we don’t need evidence, because we do need evidence. The truth is we have the evidence: it is faith in the heart that educes confession with the mouth. Faith is the evidence of the things not seen [Hebrews 11:1]. The evidence is the empty tomb and the resurrected body of Jesus Christ.

68. Saved

 Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

This promise of salvation sounds conditional: if you confess and believe, then you shall be saved. However, the confessing and believing is not a cause or a condition of being saved. The confessing and believing is the receiving of the free promise. The promise is granted to all, confessors and believers or not, and the cause is the work of Christ at the cross and the tomb. Faith receives the gift. Though the gift of salvation is freely given to all, only those with simple faith will actually be saved. Rejecting, disbelieving or ignoring the gift will not be saved.

On the one hand, confession and faith is a big deal; for it is Salvation. That’s big. On the other hand, confession and faith is not a big deal in the sense that it is not something difficult to do or hard to reach: “the word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.” [Romans 10:8]. This saving faith is also a gift of God as the Spirit reveals Jesus as Lord and convinces of His resurrection. The confessing and the believing do not arise out of our own mind, will or emotions: I can’t reason out the Gospel, I cannot choose it on my own, and I cannot work up the proper feeling. Someone speaks the Gospel to me; then the Holy Spirit convinces my mind, will, and emotions; then I confess Jesus is Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead; then I shall be saved.

I am saved from my Enemies. Sin, Death and Devil have kidnapped, enslaved, deceived, scared, hurt and murdered me. But I am saved. All the bad things are gone and all the good things have come. That’s the promise of salvation.

67. Christ is our Righteousness

 Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

 Because of Christ there is righteousness for everyone who believes. Believers in Christ receive righteousness as a gift because of what Jesus has done. In the Gospel righteousness is revealed from faith to faith. Now the newly righteous live by faith. Faith gives life and builds this newly granted life on the foundation of freely given righteousness. This foundation is a fountain ever springing and overflowing with life and goodness.

Christ is the end of the law in two senses. In the first place, “end” means the same as goal or purpose. The purpose of the law was to produce rightness and goodness and make it the central guiding light in human affairs. Christ fulfilled the Law by keeping it perfectly; in this way the purpose of the law, producing righteousness, has been accomplished by Jesus’ life on earth. One human being has finally reached righteousness; and, being also God, He is able to grant righteousness to all who believe in Him. Christ was not righteous just to make Himself acceptable to God, which He did; Christ was righteous to make us acceptable to God. The Moral Law of God has not been abolished: it has been fulfilled. The end of the law was to make life great; Jesus did that.

In the second place, “end” means something is finished or completed. The rule of Law over; it is superseded by the Gospel. The Law has no more power over us to condemn. The Gospel rules and proclaims “no condemnation.” The Law cannot, never could and never will, produce the righteousness it is designed to do. This is not the fault of the Law, for it is good, but it is the fault of human sin, which does not keep the Law. What the Law cannot do the Gospel does; the Gospel produces the righteousness the Law could not. Where the Law failed the Gospel succeeded. The Law is ended also as a motivational power to produce righteousness. The Law only has the power to increase sin and produce more evil. That power is ended.

The Law of God does still have to power to convict of sin and reveal to us the need for the Gospel; it leads us to repent and believe the Gospel. The Law is still necessary in that it leads us to believe and receive the Gospel. If the Gospel stands alone without the Law it is meaningless and speaks to nothing; with the Law the Gospel speaks volumes of grace. Nevertheless, the power of the Gospel ends the power of the Law. The Law always accuses; the Gospel always forgives, and it promises righteousness.

66. Attained to Righteousness

 Romans 9:30 The Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness, which is of faith.

The surprising New Testament promise is that Gentiles have attained to righteousness. This is unthinkable for the Jewish rabbis of the day that godless pagans who don’t care about the Law and its righteousness could attain righteousness. “They must become Jews and submit to the Law of Moses.” These people are obviously not righteous. The Lord could never accept them.

Faith is the key; faith makes the impossible possible; faith makes the impossible certain. The righteousness we have been promised and have attained to is the righteousness of faith. Faith receives the perfect righteousness of God as a free gift earned for us and given to us by grace on account of Jesus Christ. This gifted righteousness of God is complete; it is more than enough; it is obviously fuller than our own righteousness. Faith in Jesus is available for all people: it is for those who seek to establish their own righteousness (the Jew), and it is for those who do not follow after righteousness at all (the Gentile).

It is hard to accept the idea that the most hardened criminal who has committed the most heinous crimes can attain righteousness. It is hard to believe that an obvious bad person may attain the same righteousness that I, a good person, have. The grace of God is truly amazing: the righteousness of God is granted for free to faith. The further Good News is that God, the Holy Spirit through the Gospel, creates the faith that receives the gift. It is an incredible “leap” of faith for me to say without a doubt, “I have attained to righteousness!” Believing this promise I can say, “It is enough; it is done; it is finished.”